City of Vista and Vista Unified School District will build new park

Community center and other facilities to be constructed on school campus in Townsite neighborhood

The city of Vista and the Vista Unified School District are hooking up to build a public recreation center in one of the city’s most economically depressed neighborhoods.

City officials recently announced they received a $5 million state grant to build a community center, athletic fields, basketball courts and picnic areas and playground at the Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts. The school is near North Santa Fe Avenue and West Los Angeles Drive on the edge of the Townsite neighborhood.

Townsite and the surrounding area have only a handful of recreation and public facilities, said Bill Fortmuller, assistant director of recreation and community services, including Luz Duran Park, in the heart of the neighborhood.

“This is an area that sorely needs the recreation opportunities for the youth, seniors and families,” Fortmuller said. “We are definitely looking forward to the start of construction.”

City and school district officials have yet to announce a start date for the project, which will renovate a tattered 5-acre site on the school’s northern edge. The community center will be built where the basketball courts are now, and synthetic fields will replace an asphalt and grassy area.

Officials will likely meet after the state notifies the city when it will receive the money.

Students at the academy will primarily use the facilities, but the park and community center will be open to the public and for youth sports leagues after school hours and on the weekends, Fortmuller said.

The grant, paid for out of state Proposition 84 funds, covers the construction. City officials said operational and personnel expenses will be covered by fees for city programs and leagues outside of school hours. Voters in 2006 passed Proposition 84, which provided funding for park development and community revitalization.

The city and school district have cooperated on a number of joint ventures over the past 30 years. They have a joint-use agreement for school playgrounds and athletic fields at Breeze Hill Elementary and Rancho Buena Vista High School.

They started working on the Vista Academy project two years ago, and were one of more than 450 agencies to apply for at total of $184 million of grant funding. Sixty-two agencies received funding.